Great Britain Philatelic Society

Hi
This is my first post so please be gentle with me
I have a P/C with a boxed instructional/explanatory mark which is difficult to read.
I think it says Found At Roadside Without ********, the last word being undecipherable by yours truly. I have looked through Collect British Postmarks by Stanley Gibbons but have been unable to find anything similar.Can anyone help with this?I have attached a scan.
Cheers
Steve

Hi Steve, welcome to the boards!

Fairly sure the boxed mark reads "Found at Ipswich / without contents". It's a mark that was normally used on empty envelopes found in a mailbag, from which the contents had apparently fallen out somewhere along the way.

As for why it's on a postcard -- I suppose the bloke processing the "needs special treatment" mail would have had a bunch of charge and explanatory marks to hand, and would occasionally grab the wrong one! You do see some odd markings on postcards that seem to have happened this way.

Not sure why it was surcharged as a letter -- is there some glitter/tinsel on the picture side maybe?

Hi
Thanks for your speedy response.
I have looked again at the boxed mark & I am sure that you are correct
I think the charge mark might be due to the thickness of the card being in Bas-Relief.
No glitter (or glass eyes!!)
Many thanks
Steve